Chapter 259: The Explanation
Lu Hui's body was first transported to the Dao Court Division in Tōngxiān City, and an Enforcer went to report to Director Zhou.
Hearing this, Director Zhou frowned. When he saw Lu Hui's corpse, his frown deepened, and he couldn't help but say angrily:
"That Zhang Lan kid has caused me trouble again."
This Dao Court Division Head Enforcer Lu had come to Tōngxiān City in one piece, but after entering a mountain with Zhang Lan, he was reduced to a corpse in an instant.
Missing limbs, not even intact.
How could he explain this to Qingxuan City?
Could this be blamed on Zhang Lan? Who would believe it?
Director Zhou asked the Enforcer, "What happened?"
The officer cupped his hands and said, "According to Head Enforcer Officer Zhang, Head Enforcer Officer Lu was pursuing the Bald Monk, ambushed by him, and severely wounded. While escorting the Bald Monk, he encountered a demon beast and unfortunately died at its jaws, dying in the line of duty."
"Dying in the line of duty?" Director Zhou snorted coldly. "He can use that as a neat excuse, but his death was far from dignified."
"But anyone who's paying attention can see the corpse. How Lu Hui actually died isn't something you can easily fake."
Director Zhou shook his head, scanning Lu Hui's corpse with his Divine-Sense, and suddenly his eyes brightened.
The method… was surprisingly clean.
Lu Hui had only two types of lethal injuries.
One was inflicted by a cultivator, with faint white wind-element spiritual residue at the wound.
The one who did it was clearly the Bald Monk.
Wind-element roots are rare; the Dao Court Division had no cultivators with wind roots.
Among all the cultivators on this mission, none had wind-element roots. This spiritual power could not be faked.
The other type was bite marks from a demon beast.
The wounds still had the stench of the beast's saliva and deep crimson demonic energy, proving he was indeed killed by a beast.
That, too, could not be faked.
Director Zhou relaxed, thinking Zhang Lan kid was teachable.
Some things could be done, but leave no trace, and avoid causing trouble for the Dao Court Division.
Then he could turn a blind eye, pretend nothing happened, and have an explanation for outsiders.
With an explanation and no trouble, Director Zhou felt at ease.
Looking at Lu Hui's corpse again, he thought to himself: "Well killed!"
The Dao Court Division in Qingxuan City, from top to bottom, was a mess, what kind of people were they?
He didn't voice it, but internally he despised them.
Though he wasn't exactly noble, he had a conscience. He might take a few kickbacks, but he wouldn't devour people, drinking their blood and leaving no bones.
Still, he was only the director in Tōngxiān City, responsible for his own small territory. Qingxuan City's affairs were none of his concern.
Sighing, Director Zhou felt puzzled.
How exactly did Zhang Lan trick Lu Hui to his death?
Looking at the injuries, Lu Hui was clearly wounded by the Bald Monk and then killed by a demon beast.
But it couldn't be that simple.
Lu Hui was cunning; he wouldn't be that foolish…
Lu Hui was at the ninth Qi-Refining stage, Zhang Lan also ninth stage, stronger but unlikely to kill without leaving a trace.
Someone must have helped.
Director Zhou considered silently.
Those who entered the mountain with Zhang Lan—Mo Shan and Ji Qingbai—likely assisted.
Who else could it be?
In his mind, Mo Hua's sly expression flickered.
Director Zhou paused, stroked his beard, and murmured: "Could that kid Mo Hua have intervened too…"
The more he thought, the more likely it seemed.
After becoming familiar with Mo Hua, he realized the boy, though young, was beyond ordinary judgment.
Meticulous, calculated, clean execution, leaving no trace.
Director Zhou nodded, looking at Lu Hui again with approval:
"Well done!"
...
Meanwhile, Mo Hua, Zhang Lan, and the others were still in the valley where the criminal cultivators had hidden.
This valley had been used by the Bald Monk and others for shelter, habitation, and stashing stolen goods.
Several caves had been dug into the mountainside, about a dozen in total.
Inside were beds, pills, spiritual tools, food, and other cultivator supplies, showing the criminals had hidden here for quite a while.
The criminals in the valley had been killed or captured, none left behind.
What remained was confiscating their loot.
These criminals had killed and robbed many things, most hidden in the valley.
Items of little value were often discarded carelessly.
The Dao Court cultivators searched each cave, cataloged the loot, recorded it, and placed it neatly in the valley center.
A substantial pile had already accumulated.
Spiritual tools, pills, books—everything imaginable.
But it was clearly not all.
The Bald Monk had been raiding the Great Black Mountain for a long time; it couldn't be just this.
"Where's it hidden?"
Frowning, Zhang Lan continued searching the valley, scanning with his Divine-Sense for hidden rooms or mechanisms.
Then he saw Mo Hua standing in front of a rock wall, focused intently.
Zhang Lan approached and tapped the wall with his hand; no unusual sound.
"Empty?" he asked.
Mo Hua nodded.
Zhang Lan scanned with his Divine-Sense, finding nothing—just an ordinary wall—and asked:
"How can you tell?"
"Scanned with Divine-Sense; that's all it took," Mo Hua said casually.
"Alright," Zhang Lan sighed.
Reluctantly, he had to admit: this kid's Divine-Sense had surpassed his.
Fortunately, he wasn't alone—few ninth-stage Qi-Refining cultivators could match Mo Hua's Divine-Sense.
"Can it be broken open?"
Mo Hua shook his head. "There's a formation inside. Forcing it open would be difficult, and there could be traps."
"Do you have a way?" Zhang Lan asked.
Mo Hua nodded. "I think I can dismantle the formation."
Zhang Lan's eyes twitched. "Dismantle the formation?"
"Yes. Uncle Zhang, you know about it too?" Mo Hua asked curiously.
"Of course," Zhang Lan replied casually, though inwardly shaken.
This kid… even knows formation dismantling?
He'd only heard the term in passing at the Zhang family's academy, vaguely mentioned by an instructor.
Even the instructor didn't know the details, only saying it wasn't something ordinary formation masters could learn.
Restoring formations was one thing, dismantling them another.
This was truly beyond what a first-rank formation master usually learned.
Zhang Lan cleared his throat, carefully asking, "This dismantling… isn't easy, right? If it fails, forget it. I'll just have someone break it open."
Mo Hua scratched his head.
He had been observing the formation on the wall, considering what pattern to use to dismantle it.
After some observation, he had a rough idea.
"It's fine, I'll dismantle it. This formation isn't difficult; probably below first-grade, so it should be easy," Mo Hua said humbly.
A below first-grade formation was indeed fairly easy to dismantle, but he didn't want to sound overconfident in case something went wrong.
"Below first-grade, fairly easy…"
Zhang Lan sighed.
People make you sick.
He patted Mo Hua on the shoulder. "Then it's up to you."
(End of Chapter)